


Day 4: Purple/Red

by GemmaRose



Series: Galra Keith Week [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Mentions of Other Voltron Paladins, lion bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 19:13:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9339101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: When it comes to their Paladins, each Lion has a ‘type’ beyond just quintessence compatibility. Red’s is the most obvious, though.





	

Keith leaned back in Red’s pilot seat, head tilted back against the headrest. His entire body ached, from the skin all the way down into his bones. Every inch of him hurt. It didn’t hurt quite as bad when he was in Red, though. Whether it was the gentle rumble of her (engine? heart?) inner workings or the fact that their bond was strongest when he was in the pilot’s seat, Keith wasn’t sure. What mattered was that Red was a perfectly acceptable place to be when he wasn’t training, and spending his free time with his Lion meant he had enough energy to get through all the day’s training.

Even so, though, their mental synchronization had been strained today. Keith knew it was because of him, even if nobody wanted to admit it. Letting someone in pain into your head was hard, and the fact that his skin was now distinctly more purple than it had been last week couldn’t possibly help. Once his transformation was complete he wouldn’t be bringing any physical discomfort into the bond, but that was assuming they could even form the bond once he looked fully galran. How long would it be until he looked enough like the enemy that Pidge couldn’t look him in the eye anymore without seeing the monsters that took their family? How long until his appearance was so far from human he couldn’t spar with Shiro without triggering a flashback? He would have to be replaced sooner or later for the good of the team, and the inevitability of it weighed in his gut like a stone.

Red purred in the back of his mind, a simultaneous deep vibration making the cockpit vibrate slightly, and Keith uncurled a bit as his eyes slid closed. “What is it, girl?” he murmured, fingers stroking along the outer edge of the armrest. “You want to show me something?”

Red’s purr deepened, and an image seemed to swim before Keith’s eyes. It was- him? He frowned, then his eyebrows lifted on his forehead. This was one of Red’s memories. The first time they met, in the belly of Sendak’s ship. He felt a ghost of a sensation, like something nuzzling against his cheek, and the image changed. The angle was a little disorienting, looking down on the small forms below which he knew were him and the others. This was when Allura and Coran had found them, after the wormhole disaster, before any of them knew the truth. Coran had thrown him in the air like a child and caught him in a hug.

The picture changed again, to him and Lance perched on one of her paws chatting a few months ago, then to Pidge showing him their latest robot just a few skips later, then to Hunk bringing him food. That last one was from just about a week ago, he could tell by the inhuman tint of his skin. Hunk smiled while he ate, ever the proud chef, then hung around and helped with Red’s maintenance afterwards. Keith wasn’t sure why Red was showing him that, though. His Lion chuffed, and the image rippled into a new one.

This time it was less distinct, blurry, parts of the picture out of focus. Four Paladins, the one in red armour changing their (his) appearance at a rapid rate. He flourished a bow, to laughter and applause from his indistinct peers, then his skin faded to a blotchy mess of purple and tan. The fifth Paladin entered Red’s memory, and Keith stiffened at the smooth purple shape of a head sticking out of the black-accented cuirass. Zarkon. The multicoloured Paladin rubbed the back of his head, and changed to purple with fin-like ears.

What the hell did that mean? Zarkon had been the original Black Paladin, they all knew that now, but... had Red’s first paladin had also been galran? No, with that shapeshifting, he must’ve been altean. But he’d taken a galran form when Zarkon reprimanded him, so...? Red seemed to sigh, and a new memory presented itself.

Zarkon, indistinct but still easy enough to recognize, was presenting a line of uniformed aliens to Red. Potential Paladins, to- replace the blotchy one? Keith frowned, then shook his head. That was a question for Allura, not Red. He’d ask her later. Zarkon was presenting a line of soldiers, all different species and builds. Red nodded, and Zarkon began to move down the line with his arm out, hand passing slowly over each of their heads until Red nodded. The purple one’s hair, pulled through the back of its (her) cap in a loose ponytail, rippled with yellow as bright as her golden eyes as Zarkon dismissed the rest.

The image quickly shifted, the same woman standing in front of Red but now taller, now without Zarkon. She was wearing the same uniform Keith wore now, the bayard in her hand all but identical to the swords galran soldiers had swung at him. Okay, so Red’s second Paladin had been galran too, though evidently not fully since her hair had changed colours.

Another ripple, another new image. The woman with colour-changing hair was presenting a younger woman to Red. This one looked like Nyma, but purple, and wore a cuirass and pauldrons in off-white and dull red. A long narrow sheath hung from her belt in matching red, with a simple grey handle protruding from it. Keith’s brow furrowed at the image faded, replaced by the purple woman talking with her fellow Paladins. The one in Black’s armour was not Zarkon. Behind them, five figures in off-white cuirasses and dull pauldrons chased a man in blue with bright orange hair.

The picture changed again, showing the first Red Paladin. The altean markings under his eyes were bright red, even more vibrant than his armour. The second Red paladin appeared next to him, helmet under her arm and bayard in hand, a sharp teeth flashing in a cocky smirk. Next to her, the brightly smiling girl in training armour, the head of a training gladiator held aloft on her slender sword. Keith frowned at the image behind his eyelids for a minute, and then his eyebrows went up as another figure appeared. It was him, but not as he looked now. He had purple skin, gleaming golden eyes, fluffy ears, and wickedly pointed teeth. He looked galran. He looked... like the previous Paladins.

“Oh.” he breathed, stroking the arm of the chair again. “Did you know?” he asked the empty cockpit.

Red purred, and Keith relaxed a little more into the pilot’s seat. She’d known from the moment he set foot in her, from the first instant their life forces had touched. She flashed a few more comparisons before his closed eyes, and he chuckled. It looked like Red wasn’t the only one with a type. “Thanks, girl.” he whispered, patting the arm of the chair. Red purred, and he opened his eyes. Everything still hurt, and would continue to hurt for a while, but it would pass.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact, in my headcanons the second set of Paladins were the ones who hid the Lions. The second Green Paladin was that one sloth alien who lead Pidge and Shiro to Green’s temple. The second Blue Paladin was mothman.


End file.
